"A-Ahh! I'm sorry...!" Lily's face was red. "I didn't want to hear it..."
"I—I should have gone to sleep, covered my ears, or done something better, but... I couldn't do it."
"I... just couldn't stop myself from doing it..."
"Why do you think that is?"
"I don't know...!" Her voice was full of anger. "I was taught that... that kind of thing is private and sacred... only for married people who loved each other."
"B-But... it didn't seem wrong to hear you, and Mara does that almost every night... It felt... right... or maybe... normal."
"Pretty much the same." Rex said, "It was all of those things."
"But she's already married!"
"Yeah, I know that she's married. And she's very unhappy in that marriage as well."
"It's not about breaking the rules for Mara and me... It's about finding connection and fulfillment where they really are."
Lily sat on a log that had fallen down and hugged herself. "I can't stop... thinking about it."
"What I heard... and about how it must feel."
